Djokovic, Nadal line up blockbuster clash; Serena wins, Sharapova ousted

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov for the men's third round at the Roland Garros 2015 French Tennis Open in Paris on May 30, 2015. AFP

Novak Djokovic demolished Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-2 6-3 in an awe-inspiring performance at the French Open on Monday to set up a much-anticipated quarterfinal clash with Rafael Nadal.

Defending champion Nadal clinched his 70^th win at Roland Garros on Monday when a 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory over America’s Jack Sock put him into the quarterfinals.

“Jack played a great match — he’ll have a great future,” said Nadal of his 22-year-old opponent.

On facing Djokovic in the last-eight, Nadal said: “I will have to play my best tennis. He’s the world number one and is having a great season. It’ll be a complicated match.”

The Serb needed seven break points to break the 20^th seed’s serve in the third game but once he had that advantage in the bag, there was no looking back. The top seed won nine games in a row to put Gasquet on the ropes.

Murray swears he’s trying to cut the bad language Paris — Andy Murray insisted he’s trying to tone down the bad language on court, but admitted: “I’m not perfect”. The world number three had taken to Twitter after his French Open third round canter past Nick Kyrgios on Saturday after he was criticised for his colourful outbursts. “I try 2 be a good role model but this is one of my many failings. I’m far from perfect but I do try hard to improve my behaviour,” tweeted the Scot. “I do understand that kids watch and it’s not good for them to hear that sometimes I find it hard to control my emotions.” On Monday, the 28-year-old reached the quarterfinals with a four-set win over Jeremy Chardy, with his language generally restricted to dark mutterings rather than crude expletives. “I like to think I am much better now than I was before,” explained Murray. “It’s just unfortunate in tennis, it gets picked up a lot. You go for your towel, the microphone is right there and you forget where you are sometimes. “In other sports, like football, for example, the language they use isn’t that pleasant but the camera is not there on them all the time. I’d rather not do it but it’s one of the mistakes I make as a human being.” Murray, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2011 and 2014, next faces seventh-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, the 2013 runner-up. Although Murray has a 9-6 career lead over the 33-year-old he has lost all four matches they have played on clay, including in the quarter-finals in Paris in 2012. That was the pair’s last meeting on the surface and Murray believes he has improved as a claycourter in that period. His recent record bears him out. Having never won a claycourt title up to this year, he now has two courtesy of a breakthrough triumph in Munich and then in Madrid, beating Rafael Nadal in the final. His record this year on clay stands at 14-0. - AFP

Drop shots, gravity-defying crosscourt backhand winners and steely defence — Djokovic had way too much in his reserves to sink a hapless Gasquet.

The French favourite managed to please the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd with some sublime one-handed backhands but they failed to stall Djokovic’s charge towards the quarter-finals.

Djokovic, who dropped serve only once, ended Gasquet’s ordeal with an exquisite dropshot as he continued his quest to win the only grand slam title missing from his collection.

Earlier, women’s title holder Maria Sharapova was frozen out in the fourth round.

A day after rain played havoc with the schedule, Sharapova’s hopes of reaching a fourth successive final at Roland Garros were turned to dust by the dynamite forehand of Lucie Safarova, the Czech winning 7-6(3) 6-4.

Sharapova spent the changeovers coughing and spluttering into a tissue but the Russian second seed refused to blame health problems for her earliest exit at the French Open since 2010.

Top seed Williams relied on her famed survival instincts rather than her explosive firepower to extinguish the challenge of fellow American Sloane Stephens 1-6 7-5 6-3.

Fellow 33-year-old Federer also harbours hopes of landing another title in Paris.

In the build-up to his showdown with French showman Gael Monfils, Federer tweeted a squiggly sketch of the Eiffel Tower. While his attempt at drawing the famous Paris landmark would not look out of place in the sketch books of his five-year-old twins Charlene Riva and Myla Rose, what the Swiss produced on court was a masterpiece. Resuming the match at one-set all, Federer dazzled Monfils with an array of spine-tingling winners for a 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-1 victory that kept him on track for a record 18^th grand slam title.

“I’m pumped up to be in the quarters again. It really means a lot to me,” he said.

At 33, Federer would have been relieved with such a swift conclusion to the match because, thanks to Sunday’s rain-curtailed programme, he will be back on court for the third day running on Tuesday for his all-Swiss quarter-final against Stan Wawrinka. There could also be two Spaniards in the men’s last eight after seventh seed David Ferrer ended US. Open champion Marin Cilic’s run with a 6-2 6-2 6-4 romp. His next challenge will be ending the 14-match claycourt winning streak of Andy Murray after the British third seed tamed France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2.